Coal-breaker



E. B'. com. GOAL BREAKER.

(No ModeL) No. 527,411'. Patented' Oct. 16,1894.

'UNITED i STATES dParietti* GFFICE.

EcKLnY B. coXn, or DRIFTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

COAL-BREAKER.

SPECIFICATION forming partof Letters Patent No. 527,411, dated October16, 1894.

Application tiled May 1'7J 1894. Serial No. 511.551. (No modelJ To a/ZZwiz/dm it may concern,.-

Beit known that I, ECKLEY B. OOXE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Drifton, in the county of Luzerne and State of Pennsylvania,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coal-Breakers, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to methods of and apparatus for breakingcoal,lthe object of the invention being to furnish an improved methodand apparatus whereby lumps of anthracite and other coal may beeffectively broken or reduced to required sizes and at the same timeobviate the waste consequent to methods and apparatus in common use. Toaccomplish this end I employ means whereby the lumps of coal are made tohave a traveling movement of predetermined maximum velocity and wherebythe lumps are grasped sidewise and broken up while in motion withoutaffecting or impeding their velocity or traveling movement, as will behereinafter described.

In the drawing accompanying and forming part of this specification, Ihave shown in sectional side elevation one form of apparatus embodyingmy present invention, said figure illustrating the method .of breakingcoal in accordance with this invention.

In the method of breaking coal as heretofore practiced, it has beencustomary to feed the coal through a chute or hopper in a continuousstream directly and indiscriminately to the break-rolls without dueregard to the separation of thelumps of coal or to theirvelocity, ascompared with the peripheral velocity of the break-rolls, and afterbeing subjected to the action of the rolls, the coal was delivered to arigid metallic or wooden chute or spout set below said rolls ataninclination to a horizontal line, whence it was carried 0E. Owing totheir brittle nature, the lumps of coal, when striking against eachother and against the teeth of the rolls while being fed thereto, arechipped or have relatively small fragments broken off. This fractionaldisintegration or chipping oft of small fragments is further augmentedas the coal drops from the rolls upon the rigid chute, and in strikingeach other as they slide down said chute. Thisfragmental breaking up orpartial disintegration of the coal, while rela- ;tional breakage orwa'ste, from an economi- 1 cal standpoint, is of aspecial value in theart; and it is the chief object of my present invention to produce thebest practicable ren suits in the breaking of the coal with the leastpossible amount of waste, to secure the greatest output of coal ofmarketable sizes from a given quantity of coal in its unbrokencondition.

The coal-breaking apparatus shown in the drawing consists of a frame A,which maybe of any suitable construction for carrying the operativeparts, two adjacent break-rolls B and B revolubly connected forcoincident movement, two carriers or conveyers C and C', one of which islocated with its discharge end above and remote from the break-rolls andis adapted for delivering the lumps of coal to4 the break-rolls with afalling movement of predetermined velocity, and the other of which islocated with its receiving end below the break-rolls, and is adapted fordisseminating the broken coal, spreading it in a thin layer as it dropsfrom the rolls and for carrying the same away, and means for rotatingthe break-rolls at a peripheral velocity equal to the velocity of thefalling coal and for imparting a traveling movement to one or both ofthe two` conveyers, as will be hereinafter more fully described.

The break-rolls B and B', which may be of any usual or suitable form,are herein shown as the ordinary iiutedm rolls with V-shapedbreaking-ribs or teeth 6, said rolls being shown carried by horizontallydisposed shafts 2 and 2 'journaled in bearings 3 and 3 upon the frame Aand connected together for coincident movement by intermeshinggear-wheels 4 and 4', which gear-wheels are or may be securedto theshafts 2 and 2 in any suitable manner. A

hopper 7 is shown provided with its discharge end adjacent to the upperedges of the rolls and in position to insure the delivery of the lumpsof coal between the rolls in case any of the lumps should beaccidentally thrown out of alignment with the breakingfaces o f saidrolls.

In the .form thereof herein shown, the two conveyers C and C are in thenature of endless traveling belts,rthe one C being located with itsdischarge end 8 above and remote from the two break-rolls B and B', saidendless conveyer being carried over pulleys or rollers 9 and 9 securedto shafts 10 and 10 1o respectively, the shaft 10 in the organizationherein shown, constituting the main driving shaft. The conveyer C islocated with its receiving end 1l below and in near proximity to thebreak-rolls B and BLthis conveyerbelt C being carried over the pulleysor rollers12 yand12 secured upon the shafts 13 and 13. .The shafts 10and 10, 13 and 13 will,

in practice be supported in suitable bearings at their ends whichbearings may be securedl zo to or form a part of the frame Work A, aportion, only, of which frame work is shown in the drawing.

v In the drawing the rolls B and B', and the two conveyers O and C areshown driven from z5 the main shaft 10, said shaft being driven by meansof a belt 14 extending over a pulley upon the main shaft and extendingVto any suitable source of power. belt 15 extends from the pulley 16 uponthe 3o main shaft over a pulley 17 upon the shaft13 of, and imparts atraveling movement to, the conveyer C and another belt 18 extends from apulley 19 upon the main shaft over a pulley y2O upon the break-rollshaft 2 and furnishes'power for driving the two break-rolls.

lumps ofcoal 24 from hopper or chute 21, lo-

cated adjacent to the receiving end ofsaid conveyer, and will inpractice preferably be set at an inclination to a horizontal line,as

illustrated in the drawing, with its discharge 5o endy just far enough'above the break-rolls,

that when a lump of coal 24 fallsfrom the n discharge end of the belt itwill. descend with an increasing velocity, the maximum of which velocity(or its velocity when it. reaches the break-rolls at 24",) shall equal,or approximately equal, the peripheral velocity of the feed rolls, whichrolls will in practice be ro-. tated at a certain given peripheralvelocity.V

The coincidence in lvelocity of the falling coal 6o at-thetime itreaches the rolls, and Vthe pe.

ripheral velocity of said rolls may be readily established after thewell known manner of measuring thel velocities of falling and revolvingbodies, theV distance through which the coal travels after leaving thefeed-conveyer being gaged by the height of the feed- (Not shown.) A`

conveyer with relation to the break-rolls, to insure a maximum velocityto the lumps of coal,`which will coincide with the peripheral velocityof the break-rolls.

By the employment of a continuously trav eling belt, as shown anddescribed, for feeding the lumps of coal to the break-rolls, the

arately and with uniform speed, and in consequence of the acquiredvelocity of each lump, when it reaches the break-rolls, beingsubstantiallyrequal'to the peripheral velocity of said rolls', said lumpdoes not strike a blow against the teeth of the rolls as it enters thesame, but is grasped sidewise by the rolls, broken thereby, and carriedthroughrsaid rolls without affecting or decreasing the velocity acquiredby said lump before entering the rolls. Thus it will be seen that thelumps are successively and separately subjectedto the action of thebreak-rolls, (one lump being broken before the next succeeding lumpenters the rolls,) thus preventingthe liability of crowding the rolls byfeeding the coal faster than the rolls can break it, and also obviatingfractional'breakage, by preventing the lumpsfrom striking against Veachother and againstthe teeth of the rolls while being fed thereto.

Another important factor in my present invention is'the means employedfor carrying off the coal from therolls after it has been reduced tomarketable sizes and forpreventing fractional breakage or partialdisintegration during this operation. This means cousists of thedischarge conveyer C and its driving mechanism. This, discharge conveyerC which, as before stated, is 'in the nature of an endless belt', willhavejsu'fcient resiliency or flexibility to yield slightly as the brokencoal drops upon it from the breakrolls, 13,13.

To insure the carrying off of the broken coal as fast as it is deliveredfrom between the break-rolls, and at the same time spread the coal in athin layer, as at 25, preferably one lumpthick, to thereby prevent thelumps of coal from striking each other as they are delivered to the.discharge-conveyer, said conveyer will have a continuous traveling move-Y- elasticity of the discharge-conveyer, will not jbe broken or chippedas `they are. delivered from thebreak-rolls, as they do not strike arigid surface and are not allowed to come in contact with one anothereither as they are delivered upon the conveyer or while lumps of coalare delivered to the rolls sepment imparted to it in excess'of thetravel-l IOO being carried forward by the conveyer, which is a greatdesideratum as the coal cannot in any possible manner be injuriouslyaffected while being carried away from the rolls thus obviating the losssustained by coal-breaking apparatus of ordinary construction employingrigid metallic chutes orspouts for discharging the coal after it leavesthe breakrolls.

Having thus described my invention, I claimt l. The herein describedapparatus' for breaking coal, it consisting of tWo remotelydisposedconveyors, one of which constitutes the feed-conveyer and is locatedwith its delivering end above a pair of break-rolls, and the other ofwhich constitutes the dischargeconveyer and is located with itsreceiving end below said break-rolls, a pair of break-rolls intermediateto said conveyers, means for rotating said rolls at a given velocity,and means for imparting a traveling movement to the feed-conveyer so asto deliver the coal to the break-rolls at a maximum velocity coincidingwith the peripheral velocity of said breakrolls, substantially asdescribed.

2. The herein described apparatus for breaking coal, it consisting oftwo coal-breaking rolls supported for coincident rotation upon asuitable vframe-Work, a coal-feeding conveyer supported with itsdischarge-end above and adjacent to the coal-breaking rolls, a yieldingdischarge-conveyer located with its receiving-end below and adjacent tosaid rolls, and means for rotating said rolls and for imparting atraveling movement to the two conveyors at such predetermined velocitythat the feed-conveyer will be adapted for delivering coal to thebreak-rolls at a velocity substantially coinciding with the peripheralvelocity of said rolls, substantially as described and for the purposeset forth.

3. In a coal-breakin g apparatus, the combination with a pair ofcoal-breaking rolls and With means for driving said coal-breaking rollsat a predetermined peripheral velocity, of an endless carrier orconveyerlocated with its discharge-end above, remote from and insubstantial alignment with the adjacent faces of said rolls, and meansfor imparting a travi eling movement to said conveyer of such velocityrelative to the peripheral velocity of the break-rolls as to secure tothe coal delivered from said feed-conveyer to the break-rolls a velocitysubstantially coinciding with the peripheral velocity of saidbreak-rolls, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a coal-breaking apparatus, a pair of break-rolls, in combinationwith a conveyer having its discharge-end above and remote from saidrolls and adapted for delivering the lumps of coal with a fallingmovement and at an approximately-predetermined velocity to thebreak-rolls, and means forimpartinga peripheral-.velocity to thebreak-rolls, substantally equal to the maximum velocity acquired by thefalling coal when the same reaches the rolls, substantially as describedand for the purpose set forth.

5. In a coal-breaking apparatus, in combination, a pair of break-rolls,a feed-conveyer located with its delivering end above and in substantialalignment with the breaking faces of the rolls, a yieldingconveyerlocated below said rolls and means for actuatipg said rolls andconveyers, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

6. 1n a coal-breaking apparatus, the combination with a pair ofbreak-rolls driven at a given peripheral velocity, of means adapted fordelivering lumps of coal separately and successively to the rolls by afalling movement of a maximum velocity equal to the peripheral velocityof the rolls, and means for receiving, spreading and carrying forwardthe coal as it is discharged from the rolls, subtantially as describedand for the purpose set orth.

7. In a coal-breaking apparatus, the combination with a pair of coalbreaking rolls adapted for rotating at a given peripheral velocity, ofan endless traveling feed-conveyer located with its delivering end aboveits receiving end and above the break-rolls and means for imparting atraveling movement to said conveyer so as to deliver thecoal to thebreak-rolls at a maximum 'velocity coinciding with the peripheralvelocity of said breakrolls, substantially as described and for thepurpose set forth. m

8. In a coal-breaking apparatus, in combination, a pair of coal-breakingrolls, means for rotating said rolls at a given peripheral velocity, anendless traveling feed-conveyer located with its delivering end aboveits receiving-end and above the break-rolls, means for imparting atraveling movement to said conveyerat such velocity relatively to theperipheral velocity of the break-rolls as to deliver coal to thebreak-rolls at a maximum velocity IDI;

IIO

coinciding With the peripheral velocity ofthe i fectiug their maximumvelocity, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

10. The herein described method of breaking coal, it consisting inimparting a traveling movement to the lumps of coal and feeding themseparately and successively With a falling movement at a predeterminedmaxi- .f mi@ es mum velocityfto apa'l; of b ea, l i ,Q tf1 ingY saidbreak-rolls at@ pnipheaiivelccity coinciding with Lthebmaximum YelqoityFlumps of coal asthey.sucessive1y-eah the 5 rolls, so as torg'asp 'andbreak said llin'fips withg y out decreasing their xelpitx; @ns1 ;SubSe-fi l quently receiving, spreading and carrying

